The present invention relates to a device for separating solids from liquids by means of a screen that inclines at an angle to the horizontal and is accommodated in a prescribed position within a screen housing and wherein there is a product-delivery component with a feed pipe at the higher end of the screen and a receiving chamber with a drain pipe for the separated liquid below the screen.
A device of this type is known for example from British Pat. No. 2 050 855. The screen is accommodated in a stationary container at an invariable angle of inclination. The rate at which the product flows over the screen, and hence the residual moisture content of the solids, varies in accordance with the volume of product flowing in, which is undesirable in terms of uniform product quality.
Another drawback of the known device derives from the product being delivered in a direction opposite to that in which it flows through the feed pipe and over the screen, with the outlet from the feed pipe oriented toward a feed plane that slopes down and terminates just upstream of the screen, resulting in a gap that is intended to ensure uniform distribution of the product over the screen. Because it is impossible to obtain uniform liquid distribution over the feed plane, the material backs up to a varying extent upstream of the gap. The backup results in variations in the rate of flow over the total width of the gap and hence in the distribution of the product over the screen. Varying the amount of product supplied will vary its distribution over the screen and hence the residual moisture content of the solids.